


Commitment

by jesuisherve



Category: The Expendables (Movies)
Genre: Commitment, Fluff, Love, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Male Slash, nervous gunnar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-03
Updated: 2014-01-03
Packaged: 2018-01-07 07:06:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1116945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jesuisherve/pseuds/jesuisherve
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barney and Gunnar pick out rings for each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Commitment

Gunnar gazed at the rings under the display case glass with a sense of panic welling up inside him. The little placard placed before the rings in the display said _‘For Him’_ in a curly italicized font.  Picking a ring out shouldn’t be as intimidating as it felt. A sales associate flitted over to him and smiled graciously. He was a young man with neat brown hair and slim hands.

“Can I help you, sir?” the sales associate asked. His nametag said ‘Ken’.

The tall Swede shifted from one foot to the other, discomfort plain on his face. Not only was he out of his depth with this ring business, he was obviously not the usual kind of customer the store usually dealt with. Gunnar had tried to dress a little nicer than he normally did; he was wearing dark jeans with no tears in them, a grey button down with the sleeves rolled up, and motorcycle boots. The boots were a little travel-worn but they had been top of the line when he bought them. Yet still he looked rough, not like the kind of guy who was ready to drop cash on a down payment for a diamond. “I’m looking for a ring,” he said lamely.

“What kind of ring?” Ken the sales associate asked cheerfully, seeming to be not at all put off by the strange customer. “A ring for yourself, a promise ring, or an engagement ring? One of those sorts of things?”

“Uh,” Gunnar shrugged helplessly. What kind of ring was he even looking for? Good question. “Not for me, for someone else.”

“Oh, well I can direct your attention,” Ken took a few steps to the right, waving at the Swede to follow him, “to these. They might be more what you’re looking for.”

They had moved into the women’s section for jewelry. Gunnar had to suppress a laugh. “Um, no, I’m looking for a ring for my—” he paused, searching for the right word, “—boyfriend.” He winced internally. Boyfriend was definitely not the right word to describe Barney but it was close enough for now.

The sales associate’s eyes widened marginally. “I’m sorry. I simply assumed... My bad.” Gunnar shook his head to dismiss the young man’s apologies. He was not offended.

“Is it an engagement ring?” Ken offered weakly.

Gunnar felt his face growing hot. “No, more like a... a commitment ring?” he stuttered a little, hoping that was the right term. He and Barney had no plans for getting engaged or married. However, Gunnar wanted to surprise Barney with a ring. They had fought a few days ago about commitment. Barney felt that Gunnar was not as serious about their relationship as he was; Gunnar couldn’t blame him for feeling that way. He was one hundred percent committed but often failed to show it. It was in his nature to flirt with pretty women, he had been doing it for so long. It was partly because he loved women and partly to mask his ‘homosexual tendencies’ as his father had referred to them when he was younger, often accompanied by a smack to the face. It was simply habit now and somewhere along the line Barney had started to feel that Gunnar did not care as much as he did.

Ken the sales associate knew this was going to be a tough sell but it could also be a successful one. Besides the commission he would earn from a successful sale, he felt kind of bad for this man who obviously was new to the game. “Would you be able to tell me what sort of fashion style your boyfriend has? It might be easier to narrow down some options that way.” Ken asked as helpfully as he could, trying to imagine what this gigantic man’s romantic partner could possibly be like.

With a grimace, Gunnar wracked his brain for some descriptive words. Could he even describe Barney’s ‘fashion style’? What constituted a ‘fashion style’? What did Barney like? The colour black, chrome, and skulls. That wasn’t helpful. The tall blond rubbed his neck, knowing he was turning bright red again. “I might have a picture of him,” he mumbled, “I don’t know how to describe him.”

He pulled out his cell phone and flicked to his camera roll. He hoped desperately that he had a normal picture of Barney, something that didn’t scream: _“we kill people for a living”_. Beads of sweat began to pop up on his forehead. How could he be confident enough to parachute into kill zones where hundreds of soldiers wanted to kill him but picking out a ring for Barney with the help of some kid was so terrifying?  

“Here,” he finally said triumphantly. It was a picture from a summer barbeque at Hale Caesar’s place. Barney was wearing a white t-shirt and holding a beer. He had his other hand jammed into the pocket of his jeans. He was smiling. Military dog tags hung around his neck along with a necklace that had a silver knife as a pendant. Gunnar knew one of the two dog tags on the chain was one of his old ones. They had swapped dog tags once; each of them had a tag from the other. Gunnar currently had his set in his pocket. It was as close as they had ever gotten to something as binding as a ring.

Ken gingerly picked up the phone and studied the photo. So this was the kind of man that roped a European biker guy. He looked very no-nonsense and masculine. Although he was standing in a relaxed position, muscles bulged in the man’s arms. His chest was broad; his shoulders were as muscled as his biceps. He looked as if his nose had been broken a few times. He was rough and he would not want an incredibly flashy ring. Something nice that said ‘this was expensive’, but not gaudy. Something classic.

Gunnar took back his phone from the sales associate. Ken drummed his fingers on the top of the protective glass case. “I think these might be feasible options for you. What sort of price range were you thinking of?”

\--

Barney knew Gunnar was looking for a ring. Lee Christmas had given him the heads up. “Gunnar was asking me about your ring size,” he had said over the phone, laughter evident in his voice. “I think he’s looking to pop the question.” The news had given Barney two reactions, both very different. The first had been anger; he couldn’t be bought off to forget their fight with a goddamn ring. The second reaction had been affection; Gunnar was trying and that counted for something.

“We’re not getting married,” Barney told Christmas with an eye roll. They had discussed that a few times. Neither of them felt comfortable with the absolutes of a legal contract. Neither of them wanted to deal with the paperwork, the legalities, or the money etc, etc. It was a headache. They had decided that they were happy with being committed to each other. It was enough to say they were together. Neither of them needed a ring to keep the other attached.

Well, that’s how Barney had felt the week before. Their fight about commitment had been ugly. It was stupid, too. It had been a tiny issue. He didn’t like it when Gunnar flirted with other people. It shouldn’t bother him, he supposed, he knew Gunnar wanted him, but thoughts of self-doubt had begun to worm their way into his head. Eventually he mentioned something about it and they both exploded into a heated argument. But did he want to get married? Hell no. That was out of the question.

Still, the idea of a ring was kind of nice. It was almost funny. There was nothing traditional about him and Gunnar but a ring was so average and mundane.

“Rings are a bit better than dog tags, eh?” Christmas said, voicing his feelings about it almost spot on.

“What do you know about rings?” Barney said teasingly. “The last one you brought for your girl was a ruby and she was sleeping with another guy. Talk about commitment, huh?”

“No,” Christmas growled, “the last ring I bought her was a diamond and it was a promise ring. She loved it. The ruby was awhile ago.”

“What’s the point of a promise ring?” Barney asked.

Christmas grunted. “It’s a promise that I’ll ask her to be my wife.”

“Why wouldn’t you just get an engagement ring and be done with it?”

“You have no sense of romance,” Christmas snapped and hung up.

\--

Gunnar’s chest was tight with nervousness and excitement. “I’m going to send this picture of it to a friend. I think that’s the right one, though.”

“Sure,” Ken the sales associate said. He was glad they had come to a decision. The ring was a thick 14 karat white gold band with a stylized diagonal slash across the one side. Three small red rubies were embedded in the slash, bringing a hint of colour to the piece. The gemstones were not big enough to be ostentatious.

The Swede sent the photo to Lee. He trusted Christmas’ opinion. He was one of Barney’s closest friends. His phone buzzed only seconds after sending the image. It was a phone call from Christmas. Gunnar fumbled with his phone and answered it. “Hello?”

“Did you buy it yet?” Christmas roared.

“No,” Gunnar held the phone away from his ear slightly, “I’m still at the store.”

“Buy it you slow bastard!” Christmas said. “That’s the one!”

The sales associate grinned. He could hear the accented voice on the other end of the phone call. With such an immediate reaction to the ring, it had to be the right choice. After a quick goodbye Gunnar hung up the phone and grabbed his wallet. “I’ll take it.”

\--

Barney went out to pick a ring for Gunnar that day. It took a little browsing and some anxiety, he had picked jewelry for himself plenty of times and never for someone else, but he found what he thought to be the perfect ring. It was a white gold ring that had a groove that ran around the middle of the band. There was a rock crystal on the front face of the ring. He had looked at a few other colours but none seemed to suit Gunnar as much as the rock crystal did. White gold seemed to be the best as well. Yellow gold looked garish with the way the metal of the ring was shaped.

He didn’t ask anyone else for their opinion on the ring. He had dismissed the saleswoman who tried to help with a shake of his head. This was something he had to do alone. It took due consideration to pick which was the right one for his lover.

“What’s the occasion?” The saleswoman asked with a friendly smile.

“Ring for my b... boyfriend,” Barney muttered embarrassedly.

\--

A few days passed before either Barney or Gunnar worked up the courage to talk to the other about the rings. While Barney knew full well that the big Swede had gotten a ring, Gunnar did not know that Barney had gotten him one too.

Christmas approved both rings. He wouldn’t tell Barney anything about the one Gunnar had bought, but when he looked at the one Barney had picked out he whistled. “You both have excellent taste.”

“Now I just gotta give it to him,” Barney grumbled.

One evening they found themselves sitting in Barney’s backyard around a fire pit that Barney had gotten built a few years ago. It was rare that they had free evenings to have around a fire, but when they did it was nice.

“So,” Gunnar cleared his throat with a little cough and leaned forward in his lawn chair. “Remember the fight we had about commitment?”

“Yeah?” Barney glanced up and found that despite the warm summer evening air, he felt cold. Nervous.

“I, uh, I thought about it a lot and, well, I want you, you know? I don’t want to lose you, even when I fuck up sometimes.” Gunnar slipped the ring box out of the pocket of the vest he was wearing. “I don’t know how to tell you but I hope this means something.” He awkwardly thrust the box at Barney, holding it flat in his palm.

Barney took the box carefully, heart pounding. This was the ring that Christmas had been so impressed with. He flipped the lid open and stopped breathing momentarily. The ring was gorgeous. He was shocked and pleased at how well Gunnar knew his taste. He held the box up and the light from the fire flickered on the gemstones. Rubies. He wondered if Gunnar knew that was his birthstone or if he had just picked it based on the colour. He slipped it on his ring finger. A good fit.

“This means a lot,” he said in a husky voice. “And I have something for you.”

He stood up from his chair and held out his hand. Gunnar raised an eyebrow but took it. They were not a very sentimental couple. Physicality was often left for the bedroom. Still, this was nice. Barney led Gunnar into the house. They went upstairs to his, really it was their by this point, bedroom. The dark-haired man dug a ring box out of his bedside table’s drawer. He gave it to Gunnar.

“You got me one, too,” Gunnar chuckled, putting the ring on. It fit. He grabbed Barney, hugged him close and kissed him hard. “No more fights?”

“Only if the ring wasn’t to placate me,” Barney growled.

“No, it’s to show you’re mine, and this,” he raised his hand slightly and the ring winked in the light, “shows that I’m yours.”

“So does this,” Barney caught Gunnar’s bottom lip between his teeth.

**Author's Note:**

> These are the rings I imagined  
> For Barney: http://www.gemvara.com/jewelry/slash-ring/mens-14k-white-gold-ring-with-ruby/3b8jx  
> For Gunnar: http://www.gemvara.com/jewelry/jet-band/mens-round-rock-crystal-14k-white-gold-ring/qf36c
> 
> this fic totally happened because I was playing on that goddamn website and was like WHAT RINGS WOULD THE BOYS GET


End file.
